


Wings of Imagination

by velocitygrass



Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: M/M, Virtual Reality
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-04-15
Updated: 2013-04-15
Packaged: 2017-12-08 14:57:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,659
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/762683
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/velocitygrass/pseuds/velocitygrass
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A virtual environment opens up possibilities...</p>
            </blockquote>





	Wings of Imagination

**Author's Note:**

> Written for McSheplets prompt #147: virtual.

"If I hear the word holodeck one more time, someone is going to get hurt," Rodney said, before dropping down on the pier next to John.

John smirked and handed him a beer. "And the virtual plugs are more convenient and safe anyway," he added.

"Tell that to those who don't have the ATA gene," Rodney said, opening his can. "I feel as if someone started a social experiment. How do people react if you give out a great new toy but only to a select few? Do the winners feel guilty? Do they rub it in? Do the losers feel resentment?"

"I thought you were gonna say, 'What fantasies do people choose to explore?'," John said, taking a sip from his own beer.

"Well, we don't know what someone uses the plug for," Rodney reminded him, giving him a sideways look. "We tested that very thoroughly."

"I know," John said. "I'm also pretty sure the Ancients didn't invent these virtual environments on demand just so that ten thousand years later, humans could run a social experiment in them."

"Point taken," Rodney said.

They sat in comfortable silence for a moment. It was a mild night and the sky was clear.

"So, you've finally given the plug a try yourself," Rodney said casually, though it seemed slightly forced.

"How did you know that?" John asked. Unlike many others he'd been a bit wary of the virtual plug even after the science department had triple-checked that it was safe both to the user and in terms of energy consumption. And he'd made it clear to Rodney and anyone else that he considered usage of the plug a personal matter.

"I, uh, wrote the script that alerts Matthews of usage above the cut-off limit," Rodney said. "I'm getting copies of the emails to make sure it works as expected."

Their base psychologist had given his okay to allowing members of the expedition to use the plug, but together with the rest of the command staff it was decided to monitor the length and frequency of usage and inform everyone of the limit to encourage responsible use and to make it clear that if they used it more frequently it would be discussed with Matthews.

"The cut-off limit isn't one, though," John pointed out.

"Right, we also keep a list of people who have ever used it, just in case," Rodney said.

"You said it's perfectly safe," John said.

"And it is. I wouldn't use it if it weren't. But it's interfacing with Atlantis and theoretically a virus could cause some issues. Look, if _I'm_ not worried, you don't have to be," Rodney said.

John snorted. "If I _were_ worried, I'd have to worry about you first."

"Hey, I was only testing how it works!" Rodney said defensively.

"Sure," John said, taking another swig of his beer.

"I'll have you know that the virtual plug is quite helpful with visualizing certain parts of my work," Rodney said.

"Is that what you're using it for?" John asked.

"Yes!" Rodney said, but there was a faint flush appearing on his face. "Mostly," he added.

John grinned. "You deserve your fun too," he said, leaning over and bumping his shoulder with Rodney's.

Rodney's flush intensified and he gave John an unreadable look before looking away again.

John didn't begrudge Rodney his virtual adventures. Though he didn't particularly want to know what they entailed. He could take an educated guess since Rodney had been on a dry spell after breaking up with Keller. And John was pretty sure Rodney wasn't the only one who used the virtual plug for sexual relief.

"So did you like it?" Rodney asked, giving him a sideways look.

John smiled, remembering the wind in his face and the rush of riding the wave. "It was cool."

"Oh god," Rodney said. "You used it for something like flying, right?" John could _hear_ the idiotic in there even if Rodney hadn't said it.

"What's wrong with that?" John asked, raising an eyebrow. "And no, it wasn't flying." Though that would be next on his list.

"What then?" Rodney asked.

"Surfing," John said with a wide smile.

"Surfing?!" Rodney asked. "You can imagine _anything_ in the world, and you go surfing? You've done that with Ronon, what, six months ago?"

"Not waves like that," John told him. "They don't have waves like that on Earth _or_ in Pegasus. And I'd never ride them in real life. I would think you'd appreciate me going the safer route."

"Believe me, I do," Rodney said with feeling. "I just... You can do anything you want. You can do things you didn't even know you wanted." He abruptly dropped his gaze.

John frowned. Something had gotten into Rodney lately. John couldn't quite put his finger on it. He'd even wondered if it was related to the plug, but then he'd chalked it up to his own paranoia about the thing. Maybe he'd been right, though. The main reason that John hadn't used it for so long and now only used it for something pretty mundane was that he didn't want to delve into a life that he couldn't have. What use was a fantasy that could never become reality? It was bad enough that he couldn't let go of certain feelings. He didn't need to encourage them.

Now he wondered if Rodney had started imagining a life that only led to unnecessary regret. "You can't really do what you want, though. You can just imagine it."

Rodney looked at him for a long moment. "It's not always black and white," he said eventually.

Which was certainly true. With slightly smaller waves, his surfing fantasy was in the realm of the possible. John didn't want to think about what this meant about Rodney's fantasies, especially if he was right and they were about a woman. Not that he wanted Rodney to be forever alone. He just really didn't want to think about this at all. So he finished off his beer instead.

"So do you plan on going surfing again?" Rodney asked.

"Nah," John said. "I'm gonna go with flying." He looked over to Rodney. "What no eye-rolling or telling me how stupid I am?"

"No," Rodney said. "Actually, I'd love to see you do it." A fond smile appeared on his face.

While the idea of someone gaining access to private fantasies had seemed terrible to John and the rest of the staff, voluntarily sharing sounded like a nice idea. "Do you think you can?"

"I told you we tested it very—"

"I know, I know. But you tested for intercepting the connection to Atlantis or whether the information was stored anywhere accessible, right? What about _letting_ others in on purpose?" John asked.

Rodney opened his mouth, but nothing came out. "We didn't actually look into that," he finally admitted. "But since the whole process is entirely activated via thought...maybe..." He snapped his fingers and was up and away in a moment.

John only smiled and got up to follow him.

~~

John stood on the virtual balcony, then concentrated and mentally invited Rodney to join him.

Rodney popped into existence right in front of him. He blinked and looked around. "Well, that was easy." John grinned. Rodney looked at him. "So where are your wings? Or are you just going to..." He moved his hand upwards.

Actually, John had planned to go with a rocket backpack, but wings sounded cool too. He concentrated and suddenly felt the extension to his body, new but at the same time familiar.

Rodney's eyes got big. "Bat wings?!"

"Why not?" John only said. He expanded the wings and just as naturally as putting a foot in front of the other he lifted off the ground.

He flew around, testing his maneuverability and speed. Down below he could see Rodney watching him from the balcony. After a while of going higher and higher, he turned around and did a nosedive right towards Rodney.

As he quickly approached Rodney, John could see the alarm on his face, but John managed to spread his wings in time and landed safely right where he'd started.

Rodney was still looking at him grumpily. "Maniac," he mumbled. Then he took in John's wings, frowning. "Isn't it weird?"

"Nope. Feels entirely natural," John said, flexing his wings.

"Of course, this could never _be_ natural," Rodney said. "Leaving physics out of it, you'd never even be able get into your shirt in the morning." He walked around John. "Just as I thought. Just two holes through which the wings would never fit."

John laughed and turned. "It's a _fantasy_ , Rodney."

Rodney just looked at him, his mouth slanted in that peculiar way of his. Suddenly John felt the air on his upper body because his black uniform shirt had disappeared into thin air.

"Oh my god," Rodney said, closing his eyes. "I didn't...I mean..." He covered his face with his hands, but John could still see the flush. "I was only thinking about how you'd get out of your shirt...mechanically, obviously."

John realized that _Rodney_ had done this. He was slightly alarmed that Rodney seemed to have the power to do something like this even though this was John's fantasy, but then he _had_ invited Rodney to join him. He was also perplexed by the flush on Rodney's face considering that it was a fairly innocent accident. It wasn't as if he'd tried to undress John. John couldn't help thinking about Rodney's general weirdness lately. He wouldn't...no, John wasn't going there. That would be one of the fantasies he told himself he _wouldn't_ have because they'd do more harm than good.

John concentrated and had a shirt on. This one was a white dress shirt, though, instead of his uniform top. "It's okay, Rodney. You can open your eyes."

Rodney did, cheeks still red. His eyes widened a bit when he saw John's new shirt. "I...I'm really sorry. I didn't—"

"It's fine," John told him. "Do you want to fly with me?"

"Uhm, how?" Rodney asked.

"Can I give you wings?" John asked. He wasn't going to do this to Rodney without his permission.

Rodney hesitated for a moment, but then nodded.

John concentrated, and a moment later Rodney had nice white feathery wings.

"Hey. Why do I get angel wings?" Rodney asked.

John only smirked. "Let's go," he said, taking Rodney's hands and taking off.

At first Rodney was only hanging from John's hands, but then he moved his wings and they both flew. John let go of his hands, regretting the loss of their connection, but now that Rodney was carrying his own weight it wasn't necessary, and he wanted Rodney to enjoy the freedom of flying around at his own whim.

They moved through the air, though John kept an eye on Rodney, who looked a bit apprehensive about the open ocean beneath them. "Look up," John called over to him, flying around Rodney.

"You're just going to make me dizzy," Rodney complained, but he kept his eyes off the water and tried a few moves of his own, even trying a loop at the end.

John smiled when he saw the excited flush on Rodney's face.

"Okay, that's enough, I think," Rodney said.

This time, John took his time, flying down to the balcony in a large spiral until he landed right next to Rodney, who'd slowly taken a straight line down.

"That wasn't so bad," Rodney conceded.

John grinned. He concentrated and felt his wings disappear. He could see Rodney doing the same.

After a moment, they turned and looked out at the ocean.

"It's nice that this can be shared," John commented. He wasn't sure if anyone had tried before. Or if many people would even _want_ to share their fantasies. He looked over to Rodney.

"I, uh..." Rodney began.

"I didn't mean that you should. Obviously some fantasies are not meant to be shared," John stopped him.

"It's not like that," Rodney said.

John raised an eyebrow.

"I know what you think. I've been to the meetings with Matthews. I'm not using the plug to...live some kind of virtual life _instead_ of my real one. I really _do_ use it a lot for work," Rodney said.

"You don't have to justify what you're doing to me," John said.

"I know I don't, but I want you to know I...I discussed this with Matthews and he thinks...he encouraged me to— Okay, maybe not _encouraged_ , but he doesn't think it's unhealthy to explore certain...possibilities in the virtual environment," Rodney said, giving John an intense look, before looking out at the ocean again.

John thought about what Rodney had said earlier. Something about things he didn't even know he wanted. He thought about Rodney's behavior around him lately, the way that his break-up with Jennifer hadn't left him in nearly as much of a slump as John had expected. John didn't want to hope against hope, but he also didn't want to close his eyes to reality. "Possibilities?" he asked quietly.

Rodney turned to him. "Yes," he said with a quiet determination.

They looked at each other, and John could feel his heart rate speed up. Rodney's gaze dipped to John's mouth and then he leaned in. This couldn't be happening. John couldn't even remember how long he'd waited for this moment. It was like a dream come true. Like a fantasy that—

John's heart skipped a beat and suddenly he found himself out of the virtual environment back in his room. God, had he done this to Rodney? Just like Rodney had undressed him? Undressed him not because of the mechanics of dressing with wings if his flush was anything to go by...

John's thoughts were a tumbled mess, hope mixed with fear. But he knew there was only one way to clear this up once and for all. He made his way to Rodney.

On his way his mind took turns trying to tell him that Rodney having feelings for him too would explain so much and in the next moment telling him that it had been John's virtual environment subject to his every wish and that his wish for Rodney to feel the same could be so strong that it would manifest even he didn't want to do it consciously.

It was only when he was at Rodney's door that John realized that it might not have worked at all. This had been the first test of sharing the virtual environment. Maybe it had been fantasy Rodney all along and if he opened this door, he'd be greeted by Rodney complaining that John had never answered his radio calls.

John took a deep breath, finding the door opening for him as Rodney stepped out cursing to himself. "Oh, you're— I'm so sorry. I shouldn't—" John put his hand on Rodney's shoulders and pushed him back into the room.

It hadn't been a fantasy.

"Look," Rodney began again. "I know that what happened in my virtual environment wasn't real and just because I thought—" He was stopped by John's lips on his.

It took a moment, but then Rodney kissed him back, wrapping his arms around John to pull him closer. The kiss deepened, and John let the feeling of being with Rodney envelop him until he was surrounded by happiness and familiarity and excitement and hope.

Eventually the kiss slowed down and their lips parted.

Rodney's eyes opened. "Why did you leave?" he asked.

John blinked and it took him a moment to realize that Rodney was talking about the virtual environment. "I needed to be sure that it was real," he said.

"It is," Rodney said. "I'm not sure why I needed to see it before I could believe it."

"Maybe you lack imagination," John teased him.

"Hey!" Rodney protested. "I'll have you know that—"

John grinned and stopped him with another kiss.


End file.
